Biden: ‘America is rising anew’
US President unveils taxes for wealthy, help for families
US President Joe Biden declared yesterday in his first address to a joint session of Congress that “America is rising anew” on the verge of overcoming the historic pandemic.
Looking to the future, he urged a US$1.8 trillion ($2.47t) investment in children, families and education that would fundamentally transform roles the government plays in American life.
Biden marked his first 100 days in office as the nation emerges from a menacing mix of crises, making his case before a pared-down gathering of mask-wearing legislators because of pandemic restrictions.
“America is ready for takeoff. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again. We have shown each other and the world: There is no quit in America,” Biden said. “100 days ago, America’s house was on fire. We had to act.”
This year’s scene at the front of the House chamber had a historic look: For the first time, a female vice president, Kamala Harris, was seated behind the chief executive.
And she was next to another woman, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, both clad in pastel.
The first ovation came as Biden greeted, “Madam Vice President”. He added “No president has ever said those words from this podium, and it’s about time.”
Biden repeatedly hammered home how his plans would put Americans back to work, restoring the millions of jobs lost to the virus. He laid out a sweeping proposal for universal preschool, two years of free community college, US$225 billion for child care and monthly payments of at least US$250 to parents. His ideas target frailties uncovered by the pandemic, and he argues that economic growth will best come from taxing the rich to help the middle class and the poor.
He would raise the top tax rate on the most affluent families from 37 per cent to 39.6 per cent. People earning in excess of US$1 million a year would see their rate on capital gains – the profits from a sale of a stock or home – nearly double from 20 per cent to 39.6 per cent, which would mean the wealthiest Americans could no longer pay at a lower rate than many families who identify as middle class.
“I can report to the nation: America is on the move again,” Biden said. “Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength.”
For Biden, whose moment has been nearly a half century in the making, his speech also provided an update on combating the Covid-19 crisis he was elected to tame, showcasing hundreds of millions of vaccinations and relief checks delivered to help offset the devastation wrought by a virus that has killed more than 573,000 people in the United States. He also championed his US$2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, a staggering figure to be financed by higher taxes on corporations.
Seizing an opportunity born of calamity, Biden has embraced major action over incremental change. But he will be forced to thread a needle between Republicans who cry government overreach and some Democrats who fear he won’t go big enough.
The Democratic president’s strategy is to sidestep polarisation and appeal directly to voters.
Biden also was addressing an issue rarely confronted by an American president, namely that in order to compete with autocracies like China, the nation needs “to prove that democracy still works” after his predecessor’s baseless claims of election fraud and the ensuing attack on the US Capitol.
“In our first 100 days together, we have acted to restore the people’s faith in our democracy to deliver,” he said in the excerpts, pointing to actions against the pandemic and resulting economic slide.
Unimpressed, Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina was to say in the Republicans’ designated response that Biden was claiming too much credit.
“This administration inherited a tide that had already turned,” Scott said in excerpts released in advance. “The coronavirus is on the run.”